About Me

I support people on their journey to wellness through nutrition and lifestyle coaching! I am passionate about teaching people how lifestyle choices can be fun, inspiring and positively affect all aspects of their lives. I love guiding people to wellness one meal at a time!!
I am also a passionate mama, a yogi and I love to cook!

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Yay!!!! It’s squash season. My favorite thing about fall is the food! Even though it is not technically fall, the cooler mornings and the few chilli days that we have had makes me feel like fall foods. I love cooking up soups, stews, chilli, cabbage rolls, using the healthiest ingredients of course. All of the comfort and warming foods are so nourishing to the body and the soul!

Butternut squash soup is definitely on the top of my list. I make it all kinds of ways, sometimes I add an apple or pear, sometimes I add coconut milk and ginger. Depends what mood I am in. I also love it just pure and simple! This soup gets its amazing flavor from roasting the squash. Roasting brings out the natural sweetness in the food that you are cooking. That simple step can be done while doing other things and then the soup can be whipped up in a flash. Enjoy!

1 tbsp organic butter + 1 tbsp of olive oil or 2 tbsp olive oil

1 onion, diced

1 butternut squash. sliced in 1/2 and seeded

2 large cloves of garlic

6 cups or so of broth OR water, or enough to cover with 1 inch over vegetables

sea salt and pepper taste

Roast butternut squash face down in a preheated oven at 375 for 45 minutes or until very soft. Take out of oven and let cool for a little bit while doing the rest of your prep.

Meanwhile sauté onions over medium heat with butter/olive oil or olive oil for about 5 minutes.

Add garlic, sauté for another 2 minutes.

Scoop out squash and add to pot along with water/stock to cover over vegetables 1 inch.

Season with sea salt and pepper. Simmer for about 5 minutes

Let cool. Add to blender and blend until smooth.

Re-heat and Enjoy!!!!

Note - I have a Vitamix which is the most amazing blender on the market. It can handle hot liquid therefore I can skip the ‘let cool” step. If you happen to have a vitamix feel free to skip that step! If you dont have a vitamix, then you really should start a savings account and get one. It is amazing!!! Pricy but worth every penny ;)

Can also be served up in a sippy cup. Please note - it is important to get a BPA free cup, i like tommy tippers!

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Well the mornings are starting to get cooler...fall is in the air. When that happens I like to add a bit of warmth to my breakfast. This recipe did the trick for me. I actually really enjoyed the contrast of warm apples and cool yogurt. Yum!

I used local organic apples here. If you read my blog, you know I am all about taking my little girl to pick your own fruit places and we did it again. We went to the local organic farm that I am blessed to have a few minutes away and picked apples. What a difference in taste when you are eating them right off the tree. So even if you are not going apple picking (which you totally should), I would highly suggest you make sure you get local apples. When you go to the grocery store we see apples from all over the place, including New Zealand. Why would we want to buy apples all the way from New Zealand when they are growing in our backyard?? I know many farms dont have as many apples as usual this year due to a late frost so get out there and get them fast.

Enjoy!

10 Minute Breakfast

1 apple, diced

1 tbsp coconut oil

1 tsp pure maple syrup #2 or 3

Pinch of cinnamon

2-3 heaping spoonfuls of sheep’s milk yogurt or any plain yogurt (add some maple syrup or honey if needed)

1 tbsp hemp seeds (optional)

1 tbsp gogi berries (optional)

2 tbsp granola - I used Living Intentions

Heat pan to medium/high heat. Add coconut oil and chopped apples. Sauté for 5 minutes or so until soft. Please keep an eye on your pan to ensure that it doesn't get to hot. Adjust temperature as needed. Add maple syrup and let it reduce for 1 minute and add cinnamon.

Add yogurt to a bowl. Top with warm apples, hemp seeds, gogi berries and granola.